Innovative Global Brands laying off 47

Hauppauge-based Innovative Stone has filed paperwork with the Department of Labor to lay off 47 employees as it moves away from the residential custom countertop market.

Tracy Streckenbach, president and COO of Innovative’s parent company, Innovative Global Brands, said while the market for commercial business was booming, the residential side of things was not. As a result, Innovative Stone, which creates and installs custom granite countertops, will be retooling itself to focus solely on the commercial market.

Streckenbach blamed the economy for the tough times in the residential market but also noted that the company’s primary customer had recently raised its rates to an unsustainable level.

“We have served primarily one customer in the residential market,” Streckenbach said. “Their price demands on us have come to a point where we can’t provide a level of service that we want to. As a result, we have made the decision not to continue to operate in the residential market.”

Innovative Stone signed an agreement with Home Depot in October to provide 52 of the retail giant’s stores with custom granite countertops for it to sell as part of Innovative’s residential division. Streckenbach declined to name Home Depot as the primary customer raising its rates, forcing Innovative Stone to close its residential division.

Streckenbach said she was very concerned about affecting the livelihoods of the 47 employees that will be laid off, but noted that some have already been offered positions within Innovative Stone’s commercial division. In addition, she said she planned to reach out to the company that becomes Home Depot’s custom countertop provider and inform them of the available employees.

Sixty employees will remain at Innovative Stone after the layoffs take effect. The layoffs are scheduled for April 20.

Along with its Hauppauge office, Innovative Global Brands also has an office in China.